This month’s cover features a photograph of abolitionist Frederick Douglass taken by Luke C. Dillon circa 1880. Featured in Picturing Frederick Douglass: An Illustrated Biography of the Nineteenth Century’s Most Photographed American, by John Stauffer, Zoe Trodd, and Celeste-Marie Bernier, the image is part of the St. John Fisher University Lavery Library’s collection of four photographs of Douglass, including a unique carte de visite taken in Massachusetts in 1863. Douglass spent 25 years of his life (1847–1872) in Rochester, New York, home of the university.
In addition to the four photographs, the library has an extensive collection of Douglass’ newspapers that have all been digitized. Chronologically, they are the North Star, Frederick Douglass’ Paper, and Frederick Douglass Monthly, all published during his time in Rochester, along the New National Era. Learn more at https://nyheritage.org/organizations/st-john-fisher-university.